Troy wins baseball series finale vs. South Alabama, 4-3

Kole Myers drove in a pair of runs as Troy beat South Alabama 4-3 in the series finale of a Sun Belt Conference baseball series on Sunday at Riddle-Pace Field in Troy.

Myers forced in a run with a walk in the second inning and then singled home a run in the third as Troy (16-9, 3-3 Sun Belt) built a 3-0 lead and held on to win. The Trojans’ other runs came on a bases-loaded walk by Ethan Cavanagh in the second and when Kyle Mock scored on a wild pitch in the sixth.

South Alabama’s runs came on Ethan Melton’s RBI single in the sixth, Brennan Holt’s RBI groundout in the sixth and Robbie Petracci’s pinch-hit solo homer in the seventh. The Jaguars (14-10, 2-4) won the first two games of the series 12-8 on Friday and 10-8 on Saturday.

Noah Manning (3-0) allowed just one run over the final four innings to pick up the win for Troy. Manning got out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh and also stranded the tying run in the eighth before retiring South Alabama in order in the ninth.

Starter Cooper Cooksey (1-2) took the loss for South Alabama. He walked three and hit a batter in Troy’s two-run second.

Myers had two of Troy’s seven hits and also drew a walk. Leadoff man Will Turner had two of South Alabama’s six hits.

Troy hosts Florida A&M on Tuesday before traveling to Southern Miss for a three-game Sun Belt series beginning Thursday. South Alabama hosts Alabama State on Tuesday, then travels to Old Dominion for three beginning Thursday.